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Thursday Morning State News Summary Thu, 08 May 2008 5:01:11 (Mi-Dem Delegate Plan) Michigan Democratic Leaders Have Agreed On A Plan They Will Present To The National Party In An Effort To Seat The State's 157 Delegates At The National Convention In August. The State Party's Executive Committee On Wednesday Voted To Ask The National Party's Rules And Bylaws Committee To Approve A Plan That Would Award Hillary Clinton 69 Delegates And Barack Obama 59. Clinton, Who Won Michigan's January 15th Primary, Was To Get 73 Delegates Under The Original Results And Obama Was To Receive 55. The State Also Has 29 Superdelegates. The National Democratic Party Stripped Michigan And Florida Of Their Convention Delegates For Moving Up Their Primary Dates In Violation Of Party Rules. (Mi-Four Dollar A Gallon Gas) Four Dollar A Gallon Gas Prices Appear To Be Just Around The Corner In Michigan And At Least In One Location In The Metro Detroit Area It's Already Here. According To The Web Site 'Michigangasprices-Dot-Com', A Gas Station In Oakland County's White Lake Township Was Selling Self-Serve Regular For Four-Dollars-Five-Cents A Gallon On Wednesday. The Price At Stations In Ferndale And Romulus Were Three-Dollars-99-Cents A Gallon. Unleaded Regular Was Going For Three-Dollars-90-Cents A Gallon At Gas Stations Throughout West Michigan And The Northern Lower Peninsula Yesterday. (Help From: Mike Paulin, Wtcm, Traverse City) (Mi-Gay Marriage-Health Bene) The State's Highest Court Has Upheld A Lower Court Ruling Which Said A New Constitutional Amendment Banning Same-Sex Marriages Also Prohibits Governments In The State From Providing Health Insurance For Same-Sex Partners. On A Five-To-Two Decision, The State Supreme Court Affirmed The Appeals Court Decision Regarding A Benefit Package Offered By The City Of Kalamazoo. Specifically, The Court Says The Ban On Gay Marriage Also Prohibits A Government From Recognizing A Partnership As A Marriage Or A Union Similar To A Marriage, And Since The New Constitutional Amendment Defines Marriage As One Man And One Woman, It Also Prohibits A Government's Provision Of Health Care Benefits To Same-Sex Partners. (Oakland Co-Mccain Campaigns) Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee John Mccain Held A Town Hall Meeting At Oakland University Wednesday In His First Trip To Michigan Since Wrapping Up The Republican Nomination. The Arizona Senator Discussed Michigan's Economy, And Also Said He Doesn't Support Any Proposal That Would Divert Water Out Of The Great Lakes. Several Demonstrators Gathered Outside Of The Meeting, Many Protesting Mccain's Stance On The War And His Economic Policies. (Metro Source) (Capitol-16-Year Old Voting Age) Legislation Has Been Introduced In The Senate To Amend The State Constitution Allowing 16-Year Old Students To Vote In Local School Board Elections. Democratic Senator Michael Switalski Of Roseville Says Students Have A Vested Interest In Having Their Views Taken Under Consideration When School Districts Create And Implement Policies That Directly Affect Them. The Bill Would Lower The Voting Age To 16 For Local School Board Elections Only. Students Would Not Be Able To Vote In School Bond Or School Millage Elections. The Resolution Would Require Approval From A Two-Thirds Majority Of Legislature In Order To Be Placed On The November Ballot For A Vote. (Mi Dropout Hearings) A Number Of Education Organizations Today (Thursday) Begins A Series Of Hearings Statewide, Aimed At Solving The Worsening Dropout Problem In Michigan. The Effort, According To Doug Pratt Of The Michigan Education Association, Their Goal Is To Find Ways To Fix The Problems. He Says The Hearings Are Not Just To Improve The Future Of Students, But Also To Ease The Financial Burden That A Dropout Places On Society. He Says Studies Have Shown That If One Student Avoids Droppint Out, It Means Society Will Save 127-Thousand Dollars Thorugh Extra Tax Revnues, Reduced Cost Of Crime And Justice, And Decreased Welfare Payments. The First Hearing Is This Afternoon (Thur) In Grand Rapids. --Dash-- Hearings Are Planned In 10 Communities. All Hearings Are Scheduled From 4 To 7 P.M., Unless Otherwise Noted. * May 8, Grand Rapids Kent Career Technical Center, 1655 East Beltline Ne, Grand Rapids (4 To 6 P.M.). * May 15, Macomb County Macomb Intermediate School District, 44001 Garfield Road, Clinton Township. * May 22, Detroit University Preparatory Academy, 600 Antoinette, Detroit. * June 5, Lansing Capital Area District Library, 401 S. Capitol Ave., Lansing. * June 12, Flint Genesee Intermediate School Districts Davis Education Center, 2413 W. Maple Ave., Flint. * Sept. 4, Traverse City Traverse Area District Library, 610 Woodmere Ave., Traverse City. * Sept. 11, Ishpeming Ishpeming High School, 319 E. Division St., Ishpeming. * Sept. 18, Western Wayne County Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency, 33500 Van Born Road, Wayne. * Sept. 25, Saginaw Zauel Public Library, 3100 N. Center, Saginaw. (3:30 To 6:30 P.M.) * Oct. 2, Kalamazoo Western Michigan University, Fetzer Center, 1903 Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo. (Mi-Carter On Delegates) Former U-S President Jimmy Carter Is Weighing In On The Issue Of Seating Florida's And Michigan's Delegates At The Democratic National Convention. During His Appearance On N-B-C's "The Tonight Show" Last Night (Wednesday) Carter Told Jay Leno That Delegates From Florida And Michigan Should Not Be Counted At The Democratic National Convention Because They "Disqualified Themselves." Carter Also Said Any Attempt By So-Called Democratic Superdelegates To Override The Popular Vote "Would Be An Almost Unacceptable Thing." The Comments Come A Day After The North Carolina And Indiana Primaries, Which Widened Barak Obama's Lead Over Hillary Clinton. (Detroit-Fugitive Support) There Is A Growing Support To Convince The State Of Michigan To Commute The Remainder Of Fugitive Susan Lefevre's (La-Fave) Prison Sentence. The 53-Year Old Lefevre Escaped From The Scott Women's Prison In Wayne County's Plymouth Township 32 Years Ago By Climbing A Fence To A Waiting Relative. She Had Served Just A Year Of A Ten-To-20 Year Prison Term On A Drug Dealing Conviction In Saginaw County. Lefevre Was Arrested By U.S. Marshalls Last Week In The Affluent San Diego, California Suburb Of Del Mar Where She Lived As Marie Walsh With A Husband And Two Children. Many Supporters Have Started Internet-Based Campaigns By Creating Various Web Sites And Pages. They Also Have Distributed An Electronic Petition To Have Her Sentence Commuted By Governor Jennifer Granholm. Lefevre Is Also Seeking Another Attorney After Her Current Lawyer Told Her It Was Likely She Would Spend Several Years Locked Up. She Is Currently In A San Diego Jail Awaiting Extradition To Michigan. (Help From: Metro Source) (Mi-Mercer Case) The Michigan Supreme Court Heard Oral Arguments Yesterday (Wednesday) In The Case Of A Lansing-Area Doctor Accused Of Killing His Wife 40 Years Ago. The Question Before The State's High Court Is Whether 73-Year-Old Surgeon Charles Mercer Of Okemos Can Be Tried In The 1968 Death Of His Wife, Sally. Mercer's Attorney Argues That His Client Can't Have A Fair Trial Due To The Deaths Of Many Witnesses And That Original Evidence In The Case Has Been Lost Or Destroyed. But Prosecutors Contend The Legal Standard Requires That Mercer Show That The Delay In His Arrest Occurred Because The Prosecutor Intended To Achieve A Tactical Advantage. Mercer Is Accused Of Killing His Wife With A Lethal Dose Of Propoxyphene, A Pain Reliever But His Attorneys Say She Died Of Natural Causes. He Was Arrested In 2006 After A Cold-Case Team Reinvestigated Her Death And Concluded That She Died Of A Drug Overdose. An Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Dismissed The Murder Charge Last Summer Saying That Too Much Time Had Gone By In The Case, But A Court Of Appeals Overturned The Ruling In December And The Murder Charge Was Reinstated. The State Supreme Court Could Rule On The Matter As Early As July 31. (Gogebic Co-Prison Riot Convictions) Two Inmates Have Been Convicted On Charges In Connection With A Riot At The Ojibway Correctional Facility In The Western Upper Peninsula More Than Two Years Ago. A Gogebic County Jury Handed Down Guilty Verdicts For 30-Year Old James Woods And 24-Year Old Jerry Johnson On Lesser Charges Of Willfully Assisting In Causing A Riot And Assaulting A Corrections Officer. The Pair Were Acquitted On The More Serious Charges Of Assault With Intent To Commit Murder And Assault With A Dangerous Weapon Which Could Have Meant Life In Prison. Fourteen Corrections Officers Were Injured In The Uprising That Broke Out In The Medium Security Unit Of The Prison On April 9, 2006 When 35 Inmates Refused To Leave A Day Room. One Officer Was Stabbed With A Shank During The Riot At The Facility In Marenisco. Prosecutors Say Johnson Still Faces Up To Life In Prison Or Any Term Of Years On The Convictions Because He Is A Fourth-Time Habitual Offender. Because Woods Is A Third-Time Habitual Offender, His Sentence Could Be Twice The Maximum 10-Year Term For The Riot Conviction. No Sentencing Dates Have Been Set. Both Johnson And Woods Have Been Assigned To The Baraga Maximum Security Facility, According To The 'Ironwood Daily Globe.' (Mi-Mbt Hearings) A Series Of Hearings Will Be Held Around The State To Hear From Business Owners About Their Feelings On The New Michigan Business Tax. The First Of Four Hearings Will Be Held This (Thursday) Afternoon At Davenport University In Grand Rapids By The Mbt Impact Assessment Subcommittee, Headed By Republican State Senator Mark Jansen. Other Hearings Are Scheduled For May 15th In Oakland County, May 16th In Saginaw And May 19th In Gaylord. Many Businesses Have Said Their Tax Liability Skyrocketed After The New Tax Started This Year. The Mbt Replaced The 30-Year-Old Single Business Tax, Which Expired At The End Of Last Year. The Group Plans To Listen To Citizens, And Issue Recommendations By June 1st. (Wyoming-Police Chase) One Of Two Suspects In An Armed Robbery And Subsequent Police Chase Through Wyoming Has Been Arrested. Eighteen-Year-Old Hector Santiago Faces Multiple Charges, Including Assaulting And Resisting A Police Officer, Robbery And Felony Firearms Charges Related To Monday Night's Incident At Kay & Kay Party Store. He Was Arrested Tuesday Night At The Arbor Lake Apartments On Byron Center Avenue After Residents Reported Three Men Were Digging Up Bushes In Search Of A Weapon Presumably Used Monday Night. The Other Suspect Remains At Large. (Metro Source) (Saginaw-Explolding Oxygen Bottles) Firefighters Say Quick Work By Her Husband And A Neighbor Got A Saginaw Woman Out Of The Family's Burning Home Wednesday Morning. The Blaze Triggered A Series Of Explosions From Bottles Of Oxygen Used By Ann Potts. Robert Bill Says Smoke Detectors In The House Woke Him Up And The Oxygen Bottles Were Exploding And Flying In The Air. His Next Door Neighbor Says The Exploding Oxygen Tanks Sounded Like Bombs Reminding Him Of His Vietnam Combat. Part Of One Tank Was Found Across The Street And Several Hundred Feet From The Burning House On The City's Southwest Side. Potts Was Taken To A Saginaw Hospital To Be Checked For Smoke Inhalation. Fire Investigators Believe The Blaze Apparently Started Near The Front Room Of The Two-Story Home Which Was Destroyed By The Fire. They Have Not Determined A Cause But It's Considered Accidental. (Bill Hewitt, Wsgw, Saginaw) (Dickinson Co-Air Service Returns) Commercial Air Service Will Return To Dickinson Countys Ford Airport Next Month. Airport Manager William Marchetti Told The 'Iron Mountain Daily News' That Minnesota-Based Mesaba Airlines Is Continuing Preparations To Provide Northwest Airlink Service To Minneapolis And Detroit Starting June 5th. The Airport Has Been Without Service Since The Skyway Airlines Made Its Last Flight Out Of Kingsford On April 5th. Mesaba Will Receive A Combined Annual Federal Subsidy Of Two-Point-25-Million Dollars For Service At Kingsford And Escanaba. (Wed Lottery) No Tickets Matched All Of The Winning Numbers In Wednesday's One-Point-Four (M) Million Dollar Classic Lotto 47 Drawing. That Means Saturday's Jackpot Will Be Worth At Least One-Point-Five (M) Million Dollars. The Winning Classic Lotto 47 Numbers On Wednesday Were: 3-8-23-39-43-47. The Midday Daily Lottery Numbers Were: 4-0-5 And 8-9-4-9. The Evening Winning Numbers Were: 3-4-6 And 2-2-8-3. The Fantasy Five Numbers Were: 5-9-20-33-38. The Winning Keno Numbers Were: 2, 4, 11, 12, 17, 20, 27, 28, 37, 44, 46, 48, 51, 52, 54, 58, 62, 63, 68, 70, 71, 77. Friday's Mega Millions Jackpot Is Estimated At $145 (M) Million Dollars. |
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